Train tracks are generally two parallel lengths of material over which a vehicle travels. This works well for fixed position tracks which are generally built in place, but when one wants to be able to move the track, this is usually not possible without adhering to very rigid placement. Even in the case of toy tracks, which a child can pick up and put back down in a different place, one has to select pre-shaped pieces, which are of rigid form, and figure out how to fit them all into place. Anyone who has ever built a train track layout with a son or daughter and tried to build, for example, a figure eight, knows that the figure eight will end up perfectly symmetrical or adhere to some other fixed length guidelines. If one tries to vary the design by adding a longer piece somewhere, another corresponding longer piece will be necessary. Otherwise, the builder will find quite soon, and to his or her disappointment, that the last piece will not fit in where one wants it.
Further, train track sets for children often come with bridges. One can raise and lower the elevation of the track by using a specially designed piece to do so. This works well, but again, is very rigid. A typical train set might come with one bridge for every two dozen or so flat pieces, which limits creativity or causes a lot of unnecessary waste, in order to have enough of every type of piece to build what is desired. Whereas, for example, a set of blocks has a less rigid structure and many more configurations, train tracks are usually fairly limited in the number of combinations by orders of magnitude less.
What is needed in the art is a way to increase the number of permutations which can be built with a train track, while decreasing the number of different types of pieces needed. While these needs are often contradictory, such a decrease would enable one to procure a train set at a lower price, while at the same time having a better toy with which to build many more creations.